Weekly CA Quiz: December 2019 4th week

EChO Network, a national program to provide a template for cross-disciplinary leadership in India with the specific focus of increasing research, knowledge, and awareness of Indian ecology and the environment was launched in New Delhi.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) conducted a two-day regional level pollution response exercise named ‘Swachchh Samundra NW-2019’ at sea off Vadinar in Gulf of Kutch.

India’s shuttler Maisnam Meiraba Luwang beat Ken Yong Ong to won the Men’s singles Bangladesh Junior International Badminton Series 2019 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Abhinav Lohan lifted PGTI title securing a narrow one-shot triumph at the Bengaluru Open golf championship. It was Lohan’s first title on the TATA Steel PGTI and second win of the year

Manuel Marrero Cruz was named Cuba’s new prime minister, the first person to take up the post since it was abolished in 1976 when Fidel Castro became president.

Renowned children’s book writer and Rajyotsava award winner Chandrakanth Karadalli passed away in Bengaluru. He was 70.

The report by the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP) found pollution to be the largest environmental cause of premature death on the planet, causing 15% of all deaths – some 8.3 million people. India entering the per capita list at number 10 with 174 deaths

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) latest bond swapping programme, billed as India’s ‘Operation Twist’ is not without its twists and turns.

South Africa all-rounder Vernon Philander announced international retirement from all forms of cricket after the conclusion of the upcoming Test series against England

The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, releasing the book “Turbulence and Triumph: The Modi Years”, in New Delhi.The book was written by Rahul Agarwal and Bharti S Pradhan.

Virginian biochemist Camille Schrier has been named winner of Miss America 2020 after performing a live science experiment that defied stereotypes of the contest.

Senior Congress party leader Pradesh Banwari Lal Sharma passed away. He was 61. He was the legislator from Morena district of Madhya Pradesh.

Eminent cinematographer Ramachandra Babu, who wielded camera for over 125 movies, passed away. He was 72.

Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Vidushi Savita Devi has passed away at the age of 80.

The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban had achieved its goal of making urban India free of open defecation, though urban local bodies in West Bengal had not been declared open defecation free (ODF).

Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the latest scheme in a series of welfare schemes promised during his election campaign.

In a unique initiative to battle rising air pollution in cities, an ‘Oxygen Parlour’ has been opened at Nashik railway station to provide an experience of breathing clean air to the commuters.

In order to facilitate flow of credit in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Bank of Baroda has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government.

Commonwealth Games champions Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala swept the senior and junior gold medals in the women’s 10m air pistol and men’s 25m rapid fire pistol events at the National Shooting Championships.

Seasoned diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla was appointed as the new foreign secretary for a two-year fixed term, succeeding Vijay Gokhale.

Sangita Reddy, joint managing director, Apollo Hospitals Group has taken over as the President of industry chamber Ficci for 2019-20.

P R Ravi Mohan has been appointed as the new chairman of Kerala-based ESAF Small Finance Bank. He replaced R Prabha, who completed his tenure as the chairman.

According to an order issued by the Personnel Ministry, the tenure of NABARD chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala was extended by six months, with effect from December 18, 2019.

A day ahead of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) with a budget of Rs 6000 crores aimed at sustainable groundwater management.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar announced that NDA government is bringing Digital Radio in 2024 at an annual Akashvani awards function in New Delhi.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the five-day annual Gopalbpur beach festival at the famous seaside town of Gopalpur.

On January 2, K T Rama Rao, Minister for IT and Industries, would officially declare 2020 as the Year of AI for Telangana, announce exciting AI projects and launch the calendar of events.

The Centre has given in-principle approval to the Silver Line, a semi-high speed railway project from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod. The double line project can cover up to 200 km/hr.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the renaming of the strategic tunnel under Rohtang Pass after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the late Vajpayee’s 95th birth anniversary.

PM Narendra Modi will visit Brussels in 2020 for the next India-EU Summit aimed at expanding strategic partnership with Europe.

To protect consumers interest, the Reserve Bank said that on a peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platform the permissible exposure of a lender to all borrowers should not exceed Rs 50 lakh at any given point of time.

The Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) announced a total loan of $210 million for irrigation and solar energy projects in India.

Commonwealth Games champions Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala clinched gold medals at the 63rd National Shooting Championships in Bhopal.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan unveiled India’s first long distance CNG bus fitted with CNG cylinders at a function in New Delhi. It can travel around one thousand kilometre in a single fill. He said, the first long range interstate CNG bus will ply from Delhi to Dehradun. Mr Pradhan said, such type of buses will soon ply between Delhi to Jaipur, Chandigarh and Agra.

The southern state of Tamil Nadu has bagged the top position in the composite ranking for good governance index (GGI), followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka, according to data provided by the Personnel Ministry.

Typhoon Phanfone, also known as Ursula, has battered the central Philippines. Thousands of people have been left stranded, as ferries and flights were cancelled. Thousands more spent the night in temporary shelters.

The Reserve Bank has introduced a new type of prepaid payment instrument (PPI) which could be used only for purchase of goods and services up to a limit of Rs 10,000 per month.

Indian tennis legend Leander Paes announced his retirement stating that the year 2020 will be his last as a professional player. Paes, whose international career would have spanned 30 years in 2020, said that he will play a ‘few select tournaments’ in 2020 as he plans to bring down curtains on a decorated career.

India skipper Virat Kohli and Australian batsman Steve Smith are among the five players who are named in the Wisden cricketers of the decade on Wednesday.

Boeing replaced its embattled chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, saying a change was needed as it attempts to restore its reputation amid the protracted 737 MAX crisis.

The government said that under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) more than one crore houses have been already sanctioned out of a validated demand of 1.12 crore houses in urban areas. He said a total of 57 lakh houses are in various stages of construction of which, nearly 30 Lakh houses have been completed.

Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that free WiFi services will be provided to all villages across the country through Bharatnet till March next year.

Haryana government will observe 2020 as “Susashan Sankalp Varsh” during which suggestions and reforms in governance would be invited from the people, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced.

National Tribal Dance Festival has begun in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi inaugurated the festival. The inaugural function was presided over by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

The government has approved releasing ₹8,655 crore to three public sector lenders — Allahabad Bank, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and UCO Bank — for preferential allotment of shares.

The Knight Frank Global House Price Index Q3 2019 released recently ranked India at 47th spot among 56 countries tracked in terms of appreciation in residential real estate prices with a marginal 0.6 per cent year-on-year rise in home prices.

Former Asian Games silver medalist boxer Sumit Sangwan has been banned for one year with immediate effect by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) for failing doping test.

The country’s first university for transgender community will be opened in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district to facilitate its members to study right from class one to PG and even do research and get PhD degree.

The first edition of Mandu Festival began at Mandu, picturesque fort city of Madhya Pradesh. The event is organized by Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board. The festival will witness a celebration of the historic heritage blended with the modern vibrancy of the city culture.

All India Radio organized the National Symposium of Poets 2020. Select poets of all 22 languages recognized in the constitution participated in the symposium. It is being held every year since 1956. The poets from all corners of the country gave their presentations and captivated the hearts of the people during the symposium.

The Reserve Bank appointed Jammu & Kashmir Bank as the lead banker for the newly carved out union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Reserve Bank of India has directed large cooperative banks to report all exposures of Rs 5 crore and more to the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC). The move is aimed at early detection of financial distress.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has retained India’s economic growth forecast at 6.1 per cent for FY20, but said risks to the outlook are tilted to downward side. IMF’s projection, given in its much-awaited country report on India under Article IV of the Fund, is much higher than those by most agencies.

Weightlifter Seema has been banned by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for four years for a doping violation. The verdict comes following the hearing on her positive test for banned performance-enhancing drugs.

Vadodra’s Aayushi Dholakia has bagged the title of Miss Teen International 2019, vying with the girls from 22 countries, becoming the first Asian to do so in the last 27 years. Yessenia Garcia from Paraguay and Anicia Gaothusi from Botswana became the First and second Runners-Up respectively. The event was held at Kingdom of Dreams, Gurugram.

Veteran Political cartoonist Vikas Sabnis has passed away recently. He recently completed 50 years of illustrious career in 2018.

The Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra approved the farm loan waiver scheme announced last week and also gave its nod to a subsidised meal scheme for the poor.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Aawas Yojana’ for the residents of Jhuggi Jhopri (JJ) clusters and said the AAP government would provide a pucca house to every citizen of Delhi.

The UN has declared Pakistani education activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai as “the most famous teenager in the world” in its ‘Decade in Review’ report.

Tropical Cyclone Sarai lashed the Pacific island nation Fiji with heavy rain and destructive winds. Packing wind gusts up to 140km/h, Sarai has brought down trees and cut power supplies while stranding thousands of holidaymakers as flights to and from Fiji were either cancelled or rescheduled.

The State Bank of India (SBI) will switch to a one-time password (OTP) based cash withdrawal system at all its ATMs from January 1, 2020, onwards.

The Finance Ministry has made it mandatory for Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY) beneficiaries and applicants to submit their Aadhaar number or undergo Aadhaar authentication. The pension scheme is implemented through LIC for senior citizens.

Indian grandmaster Koneru Humpy has become the 2019 Women’s World Rapid Champion. She defeated China’s Lei Tingjie in a dramatic final in Moscow, Russia.

In just about a decade of its implementation in 2010, registrations under the Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) Aadhaar project have crossed the 125-crore mark and these many residents of India now have a 12-digit unique identification number.

The strategically important Rabung bridge on the Migging-Tuting road in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district was inaugurated by state Health and Family Welfare minister Alo Libang.

Assam Government launched ‘Abhinandan’, an education loan subsidy scheme that will provide a one-time subsidy of Rs. 50,000 in loan to 1546 students.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched eBkray, an online platform to increase the transparency in auctioning of assets attached by banks.

Goa spinner Shadab Jakati, who also played in the cash-rich Indian Premier League, retired from all forms of cricket. Jakati made his first-class debut in the 1998/99 season and played his last first-class game against Punjab in October 2017.

Australia’s pacer Peter Siddle announced his retirement from international cricket. Siddle ends his career at the 13th spot on the list of highest wicket-takers for Australia in the longest format of the game. He finishes with 221 wickets from 67 Test matches.

Indian Army General Bipin Rawat has been named as the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). The Chief of Defence Staff will be a 4-star General, the principal military advisor to the defence minister, and will head the new Department of Military Affairs.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune appointed Abdelaziz Djerrad as the country’s new Prime Minister. Djerrad replaces current interim PM Sabri Boukadoum and has been tasked by the President with forming a new Cabinet

The date of linking Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar has been extended from December 31, 2019, to March 31, 2020.

A Group of Ministers (GoM) has been constituted to to expedite revival plan of BSNL & MTNL. The GoM will fast-track and oversee the implementation of the Rs 69,000 crore revival plan for state-owned telecom corporations BSNL and MTNL. The GoM includes Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, IT and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

NITI Aayog on Monday released the second edition of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index which comprehensively documents the progress made by states and union territories towards achieving the 2030 SDG targets.

Users will no more be required to pay merchant discount rates (MDR) when they make a digital payment using RuPay debit card, UPI, or UPI QR code from January 1, 2020